This invention relates in general to gaming systems and methods, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for allowing aggregate execution of a plurality of gaming events, to collectively provide the outcomes for the aggregately executed gaming events.
Gaming devices, such as slot machines, have been in use in the U.S. for over a century. The earliest mechanical slot machines of over a century ago are markedly different than their contemporary counterparts. The dramatic disparities between contemporary machines and their ancestors results primarily through the advent of computers. The gaming industry has enjoyed a great deal of success in recent decades through the use of computerized or video gaming machines, and the excitement and interest in such gaming machines has rivaled, and even surpassed, their once untouchable table game counterparts.
The use of computerized gaming systems and video screens on gaming devices has provided a great deal of flexibility in the manner that the gaming activities are played. For example, the graphics presented on the computer-driven video screen can change the images presented, unlike the fixed reels on a purely mechanical slot machine. This has allowed for various features to be provided for during gaming activities, that increase the suspense, excitement, and enjoyment of gaming participation.
Excitement, enjoyment and convenience are but a few of the characteristics that gaming activity participants and casino-goers pursue. However, one aspect of existing gaming devices can, at times, be inconvenient to the gaming device user. At present, gaming devices require the user to enter a number of coins, tokens, vouchers, simulated coins, etc. to accrue one or more credits to wager. While some gaming devices allow the user to participate in multiple events at once, such as through the use of multiple paylines in a slot game, the user still must initiate each play (where xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d may include multiple paylines), which still results in one outcome. Some gaming devices allow the user to allocate many credits to a particular play, but these devices are simply increasing the number of paylines associated with that game, which requires that particular game to be configured for multiple paylines.
Because the prior art gaming systems require initiation of each play to produce each outcome, a gaming participant or casino goer who has accumulated credits on the gaming machine essentially has two options if the participant wants to discontinue playing that particular machine. First, the participant can cash out, where these remaining credits are returned to the user rather than played on the gaming device. Second, the participant can continue to independently wager credits (e.g., bet 1; bet max, etc.), each time obtaining a corresponding result. These options do not allow the user to both avoid spending the requisite time to play out all credits, and avoid having to cash out. For example, a casino patron being summoned to leave the casino by those who accompanied him/her to the casino would be unable to find out if the remaining credits would have resulted in a winning payout. Instead, the patron must simply cash out in order to leave at that time.
There are many other reasons in which a casino patron may want to leave a machine earlier than anticipated, although the patron may still want to play the credits on that machine. For example, a participant may believe a gaming machine to be xe2x80x9chotxe2x80x9d or otherwise ready to provide a significant payout. The participant may enter or accumulate a number of credits, at which time a person who is a heavy smoker engages an adjacent gaming machine. If the participant wants to leave that area to escape the smoky atmosphere, yet wants to determine whether the accumulated credits would have produced the significant payout believed to be forthcoming by the participant, there is currently no way for the participant to satisfy both of these conditions.
An aspect in which computerized gaming systems can further benefit the gaming industry is thus by providing greater convenience to the gaming participant. A participant may want to discontinue play on a particular machine, but may want to determine whether any of the remaining credits would result in a payout. The present invention provides an aggregate play feature which presents a solution to the aforementioned and other problems of prior art gaming devices, and enhances gaming convenience to gaming participants. The present invention thus overcomes the aforementioned and other shortcomings of the prior art, and offers additional advantages over existing gaming approaches.
To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a method and apparatus for aggregately playing a number of gaming activity events en masse. A collective payout is provided in response to the aggregate execution of the multiple gaming events. In this manner, a participant may concurrently participate in gaming events that would otherwise require participation in a successive manner.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for facilitating aggregate participation in multiple gaming activity events. A request for aggregate play is received, as is an indication of a number of gaming activity events for inclusion in the aggregate play. A user may request aggregate play, which initiates an aggregate play feature received by the gaming system. The indication of the number of gaming activity events may be provided by the user, calculated from an accumulated credit total, governed by a predetermined number, and the like. A random number set is generated for each gaming activity event included in the aggregate play, where each random number set corresponds to an individual payout result for its respective gaming activity event. A collective payout result is provided, which includes all of the individual payout results associated with the aggregate play.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a casino gaming apparatus is provided. A user interface is provided to allow a user to initiate an aggregate play mode, and to designate a number of gaming activity events for inclusion in the aggregate play. A random number generation module is configured to randomly generate an individual payout result for each of the gaming activity events included in the aggregate play. A processing module is configured to compute a collective payout result based on all of the individual payout results associated with the aggregate play. In accordance with another embodiment of a casino gaming apparatus, the user interface allows the user to initiate the aggregate play mode. A memory is provided to store the credit total accumulated by the gaming participant, and a processing module calculates the number of the gaming activity events supportable by the credit total. A random number generation module randomly generates an individual payout result for each of the number of gaming activity events supportable by the credit total. The processor further calculates a collective payout result that is mathematically based on all of the individual payout results associated with the aggregate play. In this manner, the user need only initiate the aggregate play mode to cause the casino gaming apparatus to allocate all of the remaining credits to the aggregate play, and to provide the collective payout result to the user.
Another method embodiment in accordance with the invention facilitates participation in gaming activities by a gaming participant. The method includes participating in the gaming activities in a standard mode where, each of the gaming activities is conducted in succession. A total number of credits is accumulated through the standard mode of participation. The participant initiates a xe2x80x9cspeed playxe2x80x9d mode to facilitate concurrent participation in multiple gaming activities. A number of the gaming activities desired for concurrent participation is designated, and a commensurate amount of the total credits is allocated to this concurrent gaming participation. A combined payout based on individual payouts of each of the plurality of the gaming activities subject to concurrent participation is provided to the user.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof, and to accompanying descriptive matter, in which there are illustrated and described specific examples of an apparatus in accordance with the invention.